PRLog (Press Release)– Mar 29, 2011– GBudgets and investment to support smart grid planning are on the rise globally, with organisations across the globe seeking to embrace new technologies against a backdrop of rising energy costs and an ever-increasing focus on efficiency and sustainable operations. According to the latest Worldwide Utility Industry Survey from Microsoft, around 73 per cent of the companies surveyed said that their budgets for smart grid planning and implementation were being increased. But moving beyond the initial development stages seemed to be proving a challenge for many.
Researchers found that, despite the majority allocating more funds to smart grid planning, there was only a modest increase of around eight per cent in the number of utilities actually rolling out their vision. The study revealed that one of the biggest obstacles between planning and deployment is utilities' need for architectural guidance. Microsoft suggested that firms were taking a somewhat cautious approach and would want to be certain that future advancements in smart grid technology were going to complement their existing investments.
Jon C Arnold, managing director of the Worldwide Power & Utilities Industry at Microsoft and a member of the Smart Grid Advisory Committee to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said: "Our study clearly indicates the hype cycle is over and more utilities today are planning smart grid implementations. "Our discussions with clients indicate an increased emphasis on architecture in the planning process as they transform their existing information systems and dodge business operations and implement the smart grid," he added. The Microsoft research also found that, globally, more than half of utilities anticipate dramatic change in their customer information systems as a result of the smart grid.
Many will be looking at replacements or ways to adapt their systems to interval billing and electric vehicles, as well as other demand-side management and new energy programmes. According to 56 per cent of those surveyed, bills will become more complicated in the future. There have been a number of significant developments in the past few months, highlighting utilities' increased focus on smart grid planning and implementation. It was recently announced that IBM had been selected as the lead systems integrator for Progress Energy's smart grid initiative. Together, the companies intend to transform the utility's existing networks, by improving efficiency, power quality and reliability, as well as enhancing capa corsa bilities for renewable energy, storage systems and plug-in vehicles.
Progress Energy plans to invest approximately $520 million (£320 million) in smart grid technologies through its two utilities that serve around 3.1 million energy bmw customers in southern US states. Guido Bartels, general manager for Energy & Utilities at IBM, said: "Progress Energy's smart grid efforts focus on improving the electric distribution network first, then cascading these improvements to the consumer. We believe these efforts position the programme as one of the more sophisticated deployments in the buick marketplace.
"Together with Progress Energy we will improve grid performance across the distribution network to bring greater efficiency, reliability and security to consumers by applying a truly integrated approach," he added. In Asia, the largest utility in South Korea announced plans in March 2011 to significantly boost investment in enhancement of the country's power transmission and distribution infrastructure with smart grid technology. Korea Electric Power suggested that, by spending more than $8 billion over the next five years, the programme could potentially reduce South Korea's energy consumption by as much as ten per cent.
And an increasing emphasis on sustainability is also being witnessed in Europe. Smart grids and integration of renewables were two of the main issues raised at the European Parliament's Energy Committee public hearing in March.
The debated focussed specifically on the need for a revised European approach to the planning and development of energy infrastructure and the timely implementation of projects. In light of such developments and an ever-growing mountain of research, it is clear that smart grid planning has a crucial role to play in the future of utilities around the world. The key to success lies in the industry's ability to advance from the planning stage to full-scale implementation.
The Smart Utility Summit 2011 will be hosted from 28th - 29th June in London. For more details, please visit the website: www.smartutilityevent.com, call freephone: 0800 652 2363 or email: enquire@iqpc.co.uk.
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